Plenty of people who know the NBA looked at the Brooklyn Nets and predicted they’d finish the season around .500 and sneak into the playoffs.

Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov, whose opinion ultimately matters more than anyone else’s, saw things quite differently. His feeling that Brooklyn had underperformed led to the decision Thursday to fire coach Avery Johnson with his team at 14-14 through 28 games.

Mikhail Prokhorov made it clear he made the call on Avery Johnson's firing and was not pleased with the Brooklyn Nets' .500 record. (AP Photo)

"We are ready to pay any expense to bring talent to the Nets and we have very talented players, but they are capable of much more," Prokhorov said before the Nets’ 97-81 win over the Charlotte Bobcats, which pushed Brooklyn to 15-14. "To me, this is totally unacceptable."

After last summer’s free-agent spending spree, during which forward Gerald Wallace was overpaid, Joe Johnson’s colossal contract was picked up from Atlanta and Deron Williams was signed for $100 million, the Nets don’t have capital to build their roster without pushing past the NBA's luxury tax threshold.

In the interim, assistant P.J. Carlesimo will handle the coaching duties, and if he does well enough, he could even end up with the job, Prokhorov said.

"P.J. is the head coach and we have an amount of trust with him," Prokhorov said. "Now P.J. is the head coach, and if it become necessary, you know who the usual suspects are."

Although Prokhorov suggests the Nets’ coaching search is not currently in motion, CBSSports.com, citing league sources, reported that Jackson has interest in exploring the Nets position, an opportunity the team is highly unlikely to pass up.

Prokhorov made it clear the decision to fire Johnson was his own, but most of the backlash has been sent Williams’ way. He has been criticized by Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley and labeled a coach-killer because Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan resigned before Williams was traded to the Nets.

When asked what direction he would have favored for the team, Williams said he would have liked for Johnson to receive more time.

"If they asked me, I would have said he needs to be our coach," Williams said. "He was a big reason why I stayed here. That's how things go nowadays. As soon as something happens, someone has to take the blame, and I guess that guy is me. I can't fight everything being said. I'm not going to try."